Table Of Macro Molecules

1822 Charleston, South Carolina, Was Horrified When Several Free Blacks Reported That A Slave Revolt Was IMMINENT

Thomas Jefferson’s “Firebell In The Night” Was Made Manifest. The “Wolf By The Ears” Had Escaped. The Specter Of A Mass Slave Uprising Was At Hand!

The Organizer Of The Revolt Was A Free Black Carpenter Named DENMARK VESSEY

Vessey’s Plan — Capture Charleston’s arsenal — Arm the city’s slaves — Pillage the city — Escape the country

Authorities Quickly Moved To Crush The Conspiracy — They deported 37 free black “troublemakers” from the state — They hanged 35 free blacks and slaves as conspirators

It Became Known As DENMARK VESSEY’s CONSPIRACY

Nine Years After Vessey, The “Wolf” Of Slavery Really DID Slip Out Of The Slaveowners’ Grip…

August 1831 A Slave Named NAT TURNER Led A Slave Uprising In Virginia

TURNER Believed That He Had Been Ordained By God To Wreak Vengeance On The Institution Of Slavery

Turner’s Slave Army Systematically Slaughtered 57 White Men, Women, And Children As They Marched Through The Rural Countryside

But White Response Was Swift. Within A Day, Militiamen Captured Or Killed All The 60-70 Members Of Turner’s Insurgents

In The Aftermath, Turner And 19 Others Were Hanged Over 100 Or More Blacks Were Killed In The Militia’s Counterattacks During The Revolt—Some Were Innocent Bystanders

Fear Of A Slave Revolt Was A Daily Part Of The Southern Psyche, And For Good Reason

Put Quite Simply: SLAVERY AND ITS PLANTATION ECONOMICS LARGELY DEFINED THE SOUTH

By 1800 “KING COTTON” Had Created An Economic Boom For The South Like Never Before

By 1850 COTTON ALONE Accounted For 2/3 of All U.S. Exports

This Was Due To Three Main Factors:

1). The Invention Of The Cotton Gin By Eli Whitney (1793) Made Raising Cotton Profitable

2). Vast Amounts Of CHEAP WESTERNL AND For Expansion (GA., MISS., TEX., ARK., ALA.)

3). A Huge Reservoir Of Slave Labor

BY 1860 — There Were 4 Million Slaves In The South — The South Was The Largest Slave Society In The World

Slaves Accounted For 1/3 Of the Population Of The South, BUT…

See Maps On Pages 218-219 In Your Text

In 7 Of The 15 Southern States, Blacks Accounted For 40% Or More Of The State Population

A Remarkable Aspect Of Slavery In The South Was That After 1820 MOST SLAVES IN THE SOUTH WERE U.S. BORN

Slavery’s Effect On Southern Society Differentiated It From Social Conventions Of The North

In The NORTH, Society Was Largely Divided Along ECONOMIC and ETHNIC Lines: — Rich, middle class, poor — Ethnicity (Irish, German, Jewish, etc.) — Educated/uneducated — Rural/Urban

In The South, The Presence Of A BLACK, SLAVE Population Divided Society Primarily By RACE

The Economy Of The South Was A Curious Mixture Of Small and Large, Slave And NonSlave Agriculture

Contrary To The “Moonlight And Magnolias” Myth Of The Old Plantation South MOST SOUTHERN FARMERS WERE NOT PLANTATION OWNERS

25% OF WHITE FAMILIES OWNED SLAVES (The Average Was Less Than 5 Slaves/Unit)

A Typical “Average” Slave Operation Was The Tennessee Farm Of JOHN FINGER — 1,000 acres (valued at $9,000) — Planted in corn and food crops — 5 slaves (3 men, 2 women) — John and his 2 sons assisted with field work

Pictures of Finger’s Modest House

Pictures of Finger’s Slave Quarters

The Larger Slave Owners Had Hundreds Of Slaves, Usually Working “Staple” Crops Like Cotton

Picture Of The “Oak Alley” Plantation Mansion

It Was They Who Lived In The Homes Most Often Pictured As “Typical” Of The Plantation South

Large Plantations Required Elaborate Layouts And Numerous Buildings To House Owners, Overseers, And Slaves, As Well As Outbuildings For Other Plantation Operations

Such An Owner Was Alabama Plantation Owner Augustus Benners

Benners Owned Two Cotton Plantations And Over 130 Slaves

BUT THE OTHER 75% Of SOUTH’S FARMERS OWNED NO SLAVES AT ALL! They Were Independent YEOMAN Farmers

Non-Slaveholding White Southerners In Agriculture Were Divided Into THREE Groups:

1). “PLANTATION BELT” YEOMEN

“Plantation Belt” Yeomen Shared The Same Geographical Area As The Plantations

PLANTATION BELT YEOMEN — They have close economic ties to the plantation system — Neighboring plantations are often their customers for food crops and livestock — They are sometimes have family ties to plantation owners — Some aspire to own slaves when they become more economically successful

2). “UPCOUNTRY” YEOMEN

“Upcountry” Yeomen Were Generally Located In The Appalachians And Areas Away From The Plantation Belt

UPCOUNTRY YEOMEN — Backwoods and upland freeholders often referred to as “Crackers” — Mostly subsistence farmers selling surplus crops for cash — Although not well-off, they are proud and independent — Some aspire to move into“Plantation Belt” status and even own slaves some day

3). POOR WHITES

Poor Whites Could Be Found Throughout The South, Particularly On Poor Agricultural Lands

POOR SOUTHERN WHITES — Sometimes “squatters” on unclaimed land, sometimes they owned or sharecropped small plots — Subsistence farmers (if farming at all), or renters in towns — Often worked as day laborers on plantations and yeoman farms — Although poor, fiercely proud of their “white” status

From Rich Plantation Owners To Poor Whites, Many In The South Felt That They Were Bound Together Economically

Due To The Presence Of A Black Slave Class, Southern Whites Also Felt That Rich Or Poor, Their Race Gave Them Common Vested Interests: — A sense of superiority by virtue of being white (the “white club”) — A need to stick together to control a hostile slave population

Many Southerners Defended Slave Labor As Not only Efficient, But Humane

They Contrasted It With The Hard Lives Of White Labor In Europe And The Northern States

A Common: — Agricultural, PlantationDriven Economic And Cultural Base — And The Institution Of Slavery Defined The South

A Vested Interest In Seeing It Survive Would Continually Bring It Into Conflict With The Emerging Industrial And Free-Labor North

The Resulting Civil War Will Redefine America